Enjoy America's birthday and its great outdoors

July 4th, America's birthday, is approaching. So let's pause a moment to reflect on some of the freedoms we have related to the outdoors. We can hunt, fish, go birding, take nature walks, photograph wildlife, or just putter around in the woods. Lots of opportunities and I like to do them all. Most of the world's population does not have the opportunities we have in America.

Basic freedoms in America are supported by our Constitution or legal precedent. Our elected officials are sworn to defend the Constitution from enemies, foreign and domestic. How are they doing in that regard? I submit — the main threats to American and the Constitution are some of the officials sworn to protect those. Please hold them accountable the next election. You have no right to complain if you don't vote. We have a right to bear arms. Guaranteed by our Constitution. That's pretty basic and pretty important. Most of world does not have this right.

We have the privilege to hunt. For much of the world there are simply too many people and too much pressure on the land to support those people to have much in the way of wildlife populations, or hunting opportunities. Growing crops and feeding humans take priority. And often what is left of wildlife habitat is in the form of parks and preserves with no hunting. In much of the world hunting is limited to the privileged few.

One of the basic premises of the North American model of wildlife management is that wildlife is held in trust in common for the people. Property owners can own the land and control access, but landowners do not own the wildlife thereon. The high fence advocates are challenging this concept now.

There is ample opportunity for people to hunt in America. Much of the private land that is appropriate wildlife habitat is leased for hunting. And there are lots of public land on which hunting is permitted. For example, there are over 200 million acres of National Forests in the nation where hunting is permitted. Over 10 million acres of it in the South.

In Louisiana there are ample hunting opportunities on public land. There are over half a million acres in the Kisatchie National Forest, including the Caney Ranger District in north central Louisiana. There are numerous National Wildlife Refuges in Louisiana for which hunting is an objective. Some the primary hunted refuges around Monroe include: Bayou Cocodrie, Tensas River, and Upper Ouachita. And the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has been proactive in acquiring state Wildlife Management Areas. Some of the main ones for hunting in the northeast Louisiana area include: Russell Sage and Jackson-Bienville in north central Louisiana.

Outdoor activities do not have to be expensive. The expensive toys, a nice bass boat or a 4 wheeler, make things easier. But they are not requirements for days afield. I have seen hunters show up at public hearings driving a 30 thousand dollar truck towing a trailer with 2 expensive 4 wheelers to whine about the cost of a license, $12. That didn't generate much empathy or support from me. Sometimes, I think the more toys and gadgets we get the less we understand nature or our hunted quarry.

So enjoy America's birthday. And be thankful for the opportunities we have in this great nation.

Dr. James G. Dickson-Award winning -author, researcher, wildlife biologist, and professor. Email him at jgdickson14@gmail.com